Children: Maintenance
Commons · Question 68845 · Tabled 17 Jul 2025 · Department for Work and Pensions · Official record
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Question
Asked by Ben Spencer
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve (a) enforcement and (b) arrears recovery in child maintenance cases where the paying parent resides abroad.
Answer
Answered by Andrew Western, 22 Jul 2025
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can only be used where the receiving parent, paying parent and any qualifying children are all habitually resident in the United Kingdom (UK). The CMS does not have jurisdiction where this does not apply. The process f...